Does New York always look like that?
I can see why most big movie studios are only limited to filming in certain areas, because the real New York looks absolutely disgusting. Those subways were atrocious!
Anyone who lives in or has recently visited New York -- is it still that awful looking?
New York was gross at the time of the filming of this movie. It got a lot better when Giuliani was mayor. Say what you want about him these days, but when he was mayor of NYC the crime dropped, and the city was a lot cleaner, and safer. The last time I was there (2018) it had gone back to being a sh*t hole. The subways were abysmal, and the crime rate was pretty high again. Not as high as it is now, but it definitely wasn't like it was in the 90s and early 2000s. So, yes, New York is a sh*t hole again. I live on Long Island and try no to go to the city. The people are rude, it stinks like sh*t, it's overly crowded, it's too expensive, and the people are rude- did I say that twice? Well, I'll make it a trifecta- the people are f'n rude! I wish they'd stay in the city, but a lot of them move out here, and they are still F'n rude, and bring their dumb rules and even dumber beliefs with them. The run from the city, and then turn the suburbs into what they were running away from. It's proof positive that being stupid can't be fixed.
shareYuck, well that answers that question. I guess the brief period when Giuliani was in office was a safe haven for cleanliness? (at least for a spell)
I was never all that interested in visiting, but seeing the way it looked in the film definitely made me realize I didn't want to go, and hearing that it's gone back to being almost third-world tier in cleanliness (or uncleanliness), I think it's a safe bet to continue to stay away.
I'll also never forget the line in The Taxi Driver where De'Niro's character is complaining to the would-be mayor about the smell; it was perfect acting because even though the character couldn't quite find the words to convey what it smelled like, De'Niro's facial expressions and contortions kind of conveyed what he thought it smelled like, and I could only imagine the odorous stench.